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Hey! I just started this a while ago and haven't played a game yet (except that intro game with one squad at my GW store). What I've got so far is pieced together from things I've read on other forums.

1) I'm thinking of having this army be mostly the pummel-from-afar kind. I'd like to avoid CC (close-combat, right?)

2) I already own 2 Sentinels and will be getting a Leman Russ simply because I like the way they look. In fact, I started 40k because I liked the models. I'd -prefer- if your suggestions include these guys, but if it totally upsets the balance, no biggie.

Now, for my (anticipated) build!

1x Company Command Squad with 1 Lascannon -------- 70 pts

3x Heavy Weapons Squad with Autocannons -------------- 225 pts

2x Veteran Squad with Meltaguns
+ Chimeras for both (Flamer and Multilaser) ----------- 310 pts

POSSIBLE ADDITIONS

1x Leman Russ Executioner (or other variant?)

2x Sentinel (Autocannons with Hunter Killers?)

Now without the possible additions, this brings me to about 700 points. I was also pondering getting Hunter killers for my Chimeras so if I did get Sentinel HK I could just throw them out there on the first round and see if they kill some armor. All those extras would bring me past 1k.

My plan for this build is to have my HWS rain down some fire on infantry and light armor while my vet squads take on armor and anything my HWS misses.

Any thoughts and suggestions would be awesome! Additions, subtractions, edits, anything. I would like to include my Leman Russ and Sentinels if possible. Thanks!

Top of page 96 shows how your list is illegal. And how are 2 squads of anything 405 points? Redo your math, you have extra points to spend! Other than being illegal the list is pretty good! I'd add in a Demolisher with LasCannon or Battle Tank with Plasma Sponsons

Woops! Sorry, the two Chimeras with the Vets add up til 305, not 405.

And thanks for pointing out the other Command Squad! Would've looked quite odd without that...

Now, when you say the list looks good, are you thinking of having my guys with or without the Leman and Sentinels?

>_> Reread the top of page 96 again and make sure to note that some squads are 2-5 meaning you MUST take 2 if you want to take anything else in the platoon while other things are 0-5 meaning that you don't have to take any but you can take up to 5.

Add the Leman! You have more work to do to make the list legal because of your platoon. Read your codex and stare very hard at the top of page 96 until you understand it =)

Now I'm confused. It says I need to have 2-5 Infantry, which I now realize doesn't include Veterans (right?) but it doesn't specify an amount of Veterans.

Are Vet Squads separate from that gigantic mob of regular Infantry+Conscripts+Heavy+Specials? Do we count the Infantry Platoon essentially like one variable-sized unit? Essentially, Veterans and Penals don't count as Infantry?

This changes my understanding of what "Troops" vs "Infantry" is. Does that mean a platoon is not necessarily part of the compulsory "1 HQ 2 Troops?"

vets are separate, and there is 6 slots available for troops choices in the foc, so you can have up to 6 vet squads.

to field the hws you need at least a platoon command squad and 2 infantry squads before you can have those other units i.e. conscripts hws sws etc. if you go that route all of those together in a platoon count as one troop choice. so one vet sqd= 1 troop choice, or 1 pcs, 2-5 infantry sqds etc= 1 troop choice.

1x Company Command Squad with 1 Lascannon -------- 70 pts

Platoon Command Squad
Infantry Squad
Infantry squad
3x Heavy Weapons Squad with Autocannons -------------- 225 pts

2x Veteran Squad with Meltaguns
+ Chimeras for both (Flamer and Multilaser) ----------- 310 pts



NOW it's legal. I promise it's not hard, and you're smart enough to read and write so you can handle it Top of 96, bottom of 97.

Thanks lordsolar and felixander. That was my understanding, though I wanted to make sure of it before buying all those Cadian models. That's about 60 of them!

Now between an Executioner and a Demolisher, I know the Executioner has more range, which helps with that long-range-pummeling I was thinking of earlier. Do you think that I need the extra anti-tank factor of the Demolisher in this list though?

And thanks for all the feedback. Much appreciated.

I LOOOVE the demolisher, the range sucks but in my metagame (The groups of people I play against) I face a lot of death star units (multiwound GK Paladins and Ork Nobs) which the Demo one shots them, including many special characters. The Executioner can only 1 shot T3 models... something that is gonna make me sad is dealing that one wound to a Warboss where a single Demo shot will take away 4 wounds =/ If you face a lot of foot Space Marines then the Executioner is for you though. Having that extra range keeps you that much farther from meltas!

I suppose it's a good thing I'll be magnetizing all those turrets then!

I also LOVE the way the Punisher looks (again, I started 40k because I wanted cool looking toys) but I hear it's terrible in actual combat.

Now! Sentinels and Hunter-Killers or no? I've heard some say it's a waste of points while other say that anything they can kill off the bat is good.

Honestly I think the only 2 really competitive Leman Russ variants are the bog standard LRBT and the Demolisher.

All the others are eye watering expensive or just have problems with accuracy. You can better spend the points elsewhere, especially at this low points level.

At 750pts mostly foot-lists seem the best as you generally wont come up against much Av14.

Well my thinking is:

If not coming up against Av14 at 750pts is a common thought, then won't my having an Av14 be an advantage?

If you can take two Leman Russ to be competitive. Take one for fun games.

Is it "cost effective" to have to take the Platoon Command AND two Infantry in order to get those HWS?

I know they're technically 75 pts, but with the Platoon Command and Infantry tagging along, that bumps up their cost.

So my options are:

1) Keep the HWS with their "excess baggage". But what do you think I should equip the Platoon Command and infantry with to keep things synchronized with my pummel-from-afar mindset? Flamers to catch anyone attempting to assault my HWS? Or should they themselves also be long-ranged?

2) I can leave out the HWS AND their "excess baggage." But what should I replace them with?

PCS with 4 flamers inside a Chimera with a Hull Heavy Flamer. So many templates! Give the two IS two lascannons. Now they're reasonable. If you wanna have a gunline list though you might wanna leave out 2 melta vet squads for when you get to higher points. One at 750 is good, focus on getting more Russes and HWTs out there. A Lord Commissar is also a good option at higher points to give all those HWTs LD 10 to keep them on the board and let them take orders!

Wow! I got to 1000 pts fast.

So far it looks like:

1x CCS with Lascannon ------------ 70pts

1x Veterans with Meltas ------------ 155pts
+ Chimera

1x PCS with Flamers ---------------- 105pts
+ Chimera

2x IS with Lascannons -------------- 140pts

3x HWS with Autocannons --------- 225pts

1x Demolisher with Lascannon and Meltas(yes or no?) ---- 210 pts

So it looks like I'll have a firing line with my HWS, IS, and CCS at the rear while my Vets, Demolisher, and PCS get all up in people's faces. Sounds about right?

Again, thanks for all the helpful input felix!

Looks like a solid list.

It only makes 905pts though. You have 95 left.

90pts happens to be the price of Colonel Straken, who might work in this list as you have a lot of infantry. Counter-attack and Furious charge for everyone within 12" can come in very handy (though it works better for blobs of infantry rather than this list which is predominantly HWS-orientated).

So maybe instead a Lord Commissar would be REALLY handy in this list because if you place him correctly he would give your HWS MUCH MUCH more survivability with ld10. I'd say with x3 HWS a LC is almost essential.

Other that, quite well balanced, though I wouldn't bother with adding all that to a Demolisher as it's just going to make itself a prime target and all it takes is one melta shot or a lucky lascannon shot to take it out the game and you waste all those 210 points. Almost a 1/4 of your army!

You have a lot of other armoured goodies that you can buy for 210pts:
Hydra, Griffon both 75pts each. Valkyrie/Vendetta: 110-130pts each. etc

Definitely drop the meltas on the Demo. It needs to stay mobile at exactly 24" from the enemy you wanna shoot so that you dont' get charged! It's easy to realize "Oh I'm 18 inches from that Jump Infantry squad =X there goes that tank!" With Sponsons you won't get to fire them as you'll be moving full time.

As Yarrick's mentioned and I mentioned before Lord Commissar is a GREAT choice for an army like this. It's easy for them to take a single wound from a S6 weapon, automatically killing a HWT and making you take a LD7 test to run away...

I wouldn't take Straken at all unless you planned on dropping HWTs for another IS blob with power weapons. Which is a completely different play style that you don't seem interested in initially..

A Griffon would be great for this army to help with Anti-Infantry, along with upgrading two of those AC HWTs to LC HWTs so you can punch stuff like LRs and Terminators more often and harder is another good choice. This is also one of the few times I'd consider a Missile Launcher HWT, so they have some flexability to help with your Anti-Horde problems.

I remember hating those leadership tests when I was playing that intro-to class.

Another thought was having an extra long-range unit, like a Basilisk (but the minimum range is too large) or a Manticore to help keep enemies at bay.

My original intent was to have my long range units pummel stuff and my others raid anyone trying to get within retaliation range of them. If everything goes smoothly, my HWS should be all tuckered in and safe. And I keep reading that Autocannons are the best all-around. Maybe it's not a likely enough bet to win?

I'm also a little confused about the Demolisher and the Meltas issue. The Demolisher's cannon has a range of 24", along with the Meltas. If I'm close enough to fire my cannon, aren't I also close enough to fire my Meltas?

They're the best all-round but you need something to deal with specific threats. So Lascannons or Missile Launchers for at least one squad would be great. Lascannons can punch out a lot of multi-wound models in one shot and decimate tanks, Missile launchers are another good choice as they are also versatile.

If you move at all you can only fire the Demo cannon and one other gun. So usually that means the Demo cannon and the Lascannon. It's unlikely you'll be sitting still as you'll want to move in close enough to the enemy to fire and then as he moves towards you you'll want to be backing up and firing to stay away from Melta/melee as long as possible. If you have sponsons then they are just sitting there looking pretty.

Wait, if I'm range to fire my Demo (24"), then won't the enemy be in range to fire THEIR Melta (also 24")?

The moving phase comes first so I won't really have a chance to move away AFTER I fire, right? I'm sure there's something I'm not understanding here.

Also, is it allowed to keep things on my model that just "look pretty" and not have to pay the point price? I read some thread recently where people took banners simply because they looked nice, but didn't pay the point cost.

ArthurDubya wrote:Wait, if I'm range to fire my Demo (24"), then won't the enemy be in range to fire THEIR Melta (also 24")?

The moving phase comes first so I won't really have a chance to move away AFTER I fire, right? I'm sure there's something I'm not understanding here.

Also, is it allowed to keep things on my model that just "look pretty" and not have to pay the point price? I read some thread recently where people took banners simply because they looked nice, but didn't pay the point cost.

If you sit still you can fire the demolisher cannon, lascannon, and both multimeltas. And then get melta'ed/charged back and die next turn. If you move you can fire the demolisher cannon and the lascannon OR the demolisher cannon and one multimelta (not both). Also if you do not move all melee hits automatically hit you. So your best bet is having just the demolisher cannon and a lascannon and keep moving. If you are playing in a serious tournament, then no. If you are playing friendly games or even a friendly local tournament they will rarely care so long as you make it clear that they do not actually have the weapons you see. What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG) is what we call that. Sometimes I will run this guy in games in place of a Company Commander just for giggles:


hey does not REALLY have a HunterKiller Missile, Heavy Stubber, Storm Bolter, Heavy Flamer, and Lasgun.

Inspector gadget?

More of a ridiculous GI Joe as many of my friends here in China say

Dude, what are you doing in China? Are you one of those really successful people whom China threw obnoxious amounts of money at?

Or maybe he could be teaching English like thousands of westerners do there?

Yarrick's_Evil_Eye wrote:Or maybe he could be teaching English like thousands of westerners do there?

DING DING DING. I always love teaching and wanted a change of pace.

Woops. Acquired-via-money was my first thought since I've been hearing so much about Asia's progress lately.

All that matters is that Beijing has a lot of 40k players (and is the filthiest city ever).
On Topic, let us know how games go with your lists.

Yessir. I've got a CCS, IS, Leman, and Chimera in the mail along with the Chimera and HWS I already have.

I assume it'll be another month or so before I get the rest of my 1000pt army together, but I'll be sure to keep you all posted!

In other news, you can see my currently painted models in the Showcase forums!